According to a recent study from Google, 50% of consumers who search for local businesses on mobile visit a store within 24 hours. That means that local searchers are quick to act on their research.

In order to succeed at local search and drive more visitors to your location in real time, you need to do two things:

Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Invest in a mobile-responsive website.

Why It Matters: Local search can be a great discovery engine for consumers in your area. But your business won’t appear in the first page of search results without some work on your end. Following the latest SEO practices is essential to moving up in Google and other search engines’ page rankings. You also need to make sure your website works on mobile so that searchers can interact you’re your content once they find you.

While it may entail some research and technical work to get your website ready for mobile primetime, the results will be well worth it when new customers walk through your doors because they found you via mobile search!

Since 2008, restaurants have paring down their menus to focus on fewer dishes. Could your business benefit from a menu slim-down as well?

The truth is, while the “My McDonald’s” cultural phenomenon was hot for awhile, having endless choices to pick from can be overwhelming for consumers. It can also place a lot of strain on businesses that are trying to maintain a high level of quality across all of their products and services.

Why It Matters: As with so many things in life, coming up with the right set of product and service offerings is all about balance. Consumers don’t want to be flooded with too many choices, but they also don’t want to be stuck with just one or two options. The key to identifying what to add—or subtract—from your menu is to look at your customer data. Once you understand which products and services your clients love, you’ll be able to adjust your offerings accordingly.

In Facebook’s latest effort to stake its claim in the mobile realm, they announced the launch of a new hyper-local advertising option for local businesses. Brick and mortar businesses will soon be able to target ads to people who live or pass through a particular radius of a storefront.

Businesses can set a radius as small as a mile from their location to ensure that they capture the most relevant foot traffic. Ads can include a map directly to the location, so readers can find their way to your storefront without leaving the app.

The feature will roll out to U.S. merchants in a few weeks, and internationally in the next few months.

Why It Matters: If your business takes a lot of walk-in appointments or class signups, this Facebook’s hyperlocal advertising option may be a great new channel to connect with local consumers. All of Facebook’s profile and targeting information will be at your disposal in addition to the user’s geographic location data—pretty powerful stuff.

About the Author

Ashley Taylor Anderson is a content developer and marketer who's spent her career knee-deep in the B2B technology space. In previous professional lives, she worked as a science textbook editor, media producer, and pastry chef.